MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Dale Ferguson, the lead engineer for Rusty Wallace Racing, has been named interim crew chief for its No. 64 Chevrolet driven by David Stremme, Max Papis and Chase Austin in NASCAR's Nationwide Series, race team officials have announced.
Ferguson, 36, replaces Steve Darne.
A West Virginia Institute of Technology graduate, Ferguson brings more than 10 years of vehicle engineering experience to RWR. He joined the organization in late 2007 after a stint as lead engineer for JR Motorsports' Nationwide Series operation. Prior to that, he was an engineer for Haas CNC Racing’s Nationwide Series team.
Ferguson’s move to RWR marks a reunion of sorts. By joining the team, he has been reunited with his former JR Motorsports driver, Shane Huffman, who is the car chief on the team’s No. 66 entry, and with former JRM car chief, Ricky Cade, who is the car chief on the No. 64, beginning this weekend at California Speedway. With Ferguson's appointment as interim crew chief, he is also reunited with another former teammate, No. 66 crew chief Harold Holly, who facilitated Ferguson’s entry into racing in late 2002 with Team Rensi.
“Dale Ferguson is a very knowledgeable individual who has already been an enormous asset to our team as its lead engineer,” team owner Rusty Wallace said. “With the great working relationships he already has with Harold Holly, Shane Huffman and the other guys on our No. 66 team, we feel that the communication and information flow between our teams will be stronger and that makes us a stronger team overall.
“This decision was definitely very hard to make. Steve Darne was one of our longest-serving and most loyal team members; besides that, he’s just a great individual overall. He always went above and beyond the call of duty for our team. At the end of the day, however, this is a performance-based business and competition is fierce.”
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02-20-2008, 01:31 PM
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